The Storyline
The Harvard women's lacrosse team will look for its second straight win over Yale and the team's first victory in New Haven, Conn. since 2006 when the teams meet Saturday, March 24 at 3 p.m.

A live video stream and live stats will be available during Saturday's contest through YaleBulldogs.com.

Last Time Out
For the second straight game the Harvard women's lacrosse team battled back from a second-half deficit but was unable to complete the comeback as No. 19/20 Boston College escaped Harvard Stadium with a 7-5 victory Wednesday night.

The Crimson trailed 7-2 with under 10 minutes remaining before scoring three unanswered goals to pull within 7-5 with 5:47 to play. Jennifer VanderMeulen scored the first of the three goals off a free position shot, with Melanie Baskind and Nina Kucharczyk adding unassisted tallies to bring Harvard within two. Kasey Ulenhuth won the ensuing draw control and Danielle Tetreault fired a shot on goal with 3:10 to play, but Boston College's Emily Mata came up with the save and controlled possession of the ball to eliminate the Crimson's opportunity.

Harvard earned another offensive possession with under 2:00 remaining as VanderMeulen forced a turnover by Brittany Wilton and picked up the ground ball for the Crimson. Baskind's shot with 1:08 on the clock was saved by Mata, however, clinching the game for the Eagles.

Kucharczyk led the Crimson with two goals on four shots, with Baskind, Tetreault and VanderMeulen each adding one. VanderMeulen also led the defensive efforts with two caused turnovers and two ground balls while Baskind, Jenn Leffew and Mariah Pewarski came up with two ground balls apiece. Kelly Weis made eight saves in goal and recorded three ground balls.

Scouting the Bulldogs Yale will enter play Saturday with a 2-4 overall record and 0-2 in Ivy League play. The Bulldogs have lost three straight games, including at home to Penn, 12-6, and on the road at Boston University, 13-8, most recently.

Five Bulldogs have recorded double-digit points led by Cathryn Avallone (11g, 2) and Devon Rhodes (9g, 4a) who have each registered 13. Caroline Crow boasts 11 points on 10 goals and one assist while Kerri Fleishhacker and Ashley McCormick have both notched seven goals and three assists for 10 points.

Avallone is also tops on the team with 11 ground balls and has won 10 draw controls. Christina Doherty is tied with Avallone with 11 ground balls and has a team-high 16 draw controls. Whitney Quackenbush is 1-2 in goal with a 12.41 goals against average and a 38.4 save percentage while Erin McMullan has recorded an identical 1-2 record with an 11.37 goals against average and a 37.2 save percentage.

Harvard won last year's meeting with Yale, 19-3, at Harvard Stadium to improve to 19-20-1 all-time against the Bulldogs. The 16-goal differential stands as the largest margin of victory for either side in the series as both Danielle Tetreault and Jennifer VanderMeulen scored four goals to lead the Crimson.

Former Crimson Named Finalists for National Lacrosse Hall of Fame
Harvard alumnae Sarah (Downing) Nelson '94 and Maggie Vaughan '90 are among the 12 finalists on the 2012 National Lacrosse Hall of Fame women's ballot. Vaughan helped Harvard to the program's first NCAA Championship in 1990 and was a four-time Ivy League champion, while Nelson was a two-time Ivy League champion and a three-time All-Ivy honoree. Click here to read the full story.

D-Fence Harvard has held four of its six opponents to under 10 goals this season, including three of its last four. The Crimson is allowing just 9.21 goals per game, which would stand as the team's lowest goals against average since 2008 (the last year complete stats are available).

Nail Biters Harvard's last four games have been decided by a total of five goals, with three of those games being decided by a one-goal margin. The Crimson has played in 15 one-goal games under head coach Lisa Miller and sports a 7-8 record.

Overtime Thrillers The Crimson went to overtime against both No. 13 James Madison and No. 9/10 Penn, marking the first time in program history that Harvard has played in back-to-back overtime games. Harvard is 5-5 all-time in overtime games and has never gone to overtime more than twice in a season.

Between the Pipes
Freshman Kelly Weis made 10 saves while helping the Crimson to a 9-8 double-overtime victory over No. 13 James Madison on March 6, matching Kerry Clark's total of 10 saves against Virginia last season for the most saves by a Harvard goalie since Katherine Martino '10 recorded 12 in a 17-9 win over Boston College on May 5, 2010. Weis has made all six starts in goal for the Crimson, posting a 9.21 goals against average and a 45.2 save percentage. Weis has made at least eight saves in four games this season.

Sharing the Wealth
Eight different Crimson have scored a goal in 2012 with seven having scored at least four. Melanie Baskind and Danielle Tetreault lead the way with 10 goals apiece, while Micaela Cyr has found the back of the net nine times. Jess Halpern and Jennifer VanderMeulen boast six goals apiece.

Two Way Players
Midfielders Melanie Baskind, Micaela Cyr and Danielle Tetreault have led the Crimson on both the offensive and defensive ends of the field in 2012. Tetreault (10g, 4a) has recorded a team-high 14 points while Baskind (10g, 1a) and Cyr (9g) rank second and third with 11 points and nine points, respectively. Baskind's 14 ground balls are tops on the team with Cyr's 10 placing her second, while Tetreault has won a team-high 14 draw controls. Both Baskind and Cyr lead Harvard with four caused turnovers.

National Prominence
Harvard has received votes in three of this year's first five IWLCA Coaches Polls, and opened the season ranked 19th in the deBeer Media Poll. The Crimson moved up to No. 16 in the media poll after its season-opening 11-9 win over Boston University, but has since fallen from the rankings.

Week of March 19
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Hat Trick Heroes Harvard has notched seven hat tricks this season with Melanie Baskind and Micaela Cyr leading the way with two apiece. Jess Halpern and Jennifer VanderMeulen, meanwhile, lead all active Crimson with 23 career hat tricks.

To Be the Best, You Have to Beat the Best
Harvard has knocked off a top 20 opponent in each of the last four seasons, with James Madison, then ranked 13th in the IWLCA Coaches Poll, becoming its latest victim via a 9-8 double-overtime triumph on March 6. The Crimson will have plenty more opportunities to knock off one of the premier teams in the nation this season, as 10 of the team's opponents have been ranked in either the deBeer Media Poll or the IWLCA Preseason Coaches Poll including Boston College, Cornell, Dartmouth, James Madison, John's Hopkins, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, Syracuse, and Virginia.

Climbing the Charts
Senior Jess Halpern and junior Jennifer VanderMeulen currently rank among Harvard's all-time top 10 goal scorers. Halpern has netted 117 career goals, good for seventh in program history, while her 139 points place her ninth in the school record books. VanderMeulen, meanwhile, ranks ninth with 110 goals in just 37 games and boasts 125 points. Her 56 goals scored in 2010 rank fifth on the Crimson's single-season list.

In the News Harvard was featured by Lacrosse Magazine's Clare Lochary on March 14 in her column, "Surprise Upsets Continue in WD1." Lochary broke down the Crimson's double-overtime win over No. 13 James Madison and detailed its importance to the Crimson's development under head coach Lisa Miller. Click here to read the full column.

Ivy League Honors
Senior co-captain Melanie Baskind was named the Ivy League's Defensive Player of the Week Feb. 27 after leading the Crimson to an 11-9 season-opening win over Boston University.

Baskind led the Crimson on both the offensive and defensive ends of the field, registering her ninth career hat trick while collecting a game-high five ground balls. The midfielder converted on all three of her shot attempts and also won two draw controls and caused two turnovers.

This was the first weekly award of Baskind's career and Harvard's first defensive player of the week honor since Kathryn Tylander '08 took home the award on March 4, 2008.

Catch the Crimson in 2012
Harvard has announced that 11 home men's and women's lacrosse games will be streamed online from Harvard Stadium during the 2012 season, marking the third straight year fans of Harvard lacrosse will have the opportunity to watch the Crimson live from home.

A total of six women's games will be available to watch, beginning with the Crimson's March 21 showdown with Boston College, its first inside Harvard Stadium. Each home contest for the remainder of the year will be streamed.

A full season pass for either the men's or women's team will be available for just $29.95, while single games can be purchased for $9.95. Click here to sign up for your season pass today.

Tewaaraton Award Watch List
Junior's Jennifer VanderMeulen and Danielle Tetreault were named to the 2012 Tewaaraton Award Watch List, which is comprised of the top 50 women's lacrosse student-athletes from all three divisions of collegiate lacrosse. VanderMeulen and Tetreault are the latest Crimson to be put up for the prestigious award, after current teammates Jess Halpern and Micaela Cyr were nominated in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

VanderMeulen is coming off a season in which she was named to the Synapse Sports All-America second team, IWLCA All-Region first team and All-Ivy League first team after ranking 18th in the NCAA in goals per game (3.0) and 30th in goals (48). She currently ranks 10th in program history with 104 career goals, while her 56 scores in 2010 rank fifth on Harvard's single-season list.

Tetreault was a first team all-region and second team all-Ivy selection a year ago, and ranked 31st in the nation with 2.63 goals per game. Tetreault boasts 62 career goals, 17 assists and 79 points in 31 career games.

Captaining the Ship
Seniors Melanie Baskind, Ellen Gleason and Tyler Petropulos were voted by their teammates as captains for the 2012 season. Baskind and Petropulos also served as captains last season, making them just the sixth and seventh student-athletes in program history to be voted captain in consecutive seasons. Carroll Clark '92 was the first to do so when she captained both the 1991 and 1992 squads, and was followed by Daphne Clark '97 (1996 & 1997), Ali Harper '01 (2000 & 2001), Lauren Bobzin '08 (2007 & 2008) and Sara Flood '10 (2009 & 2010). This is just the sixth time in program history three Crimson had been chosen to lead the team.

Two-Sport Star Baskind Featured by New England Lacrosse Journal
Senior Melanie Baskind, who captains both the women's lacrosse and women's soccer teams and is an All-Ivy League honoree in both sports, was recently featured by Sammi Gorman of the New England Lacrosse Journal.

"In the city of Boston — a breeding ground for both star athletes and top students at some of the world's best academic institutions — Melanie Baskind is different.

"She's not the only student with a 3.8 grade-point average as a neurobiology major at a top school like Harvard, and she's not the only athlete to get league Player of the Year honors in her sport. She is the only one to do those things and be a threat to earn those kind of honors in two sports."

Historical Perspective
Harvard captured the program's first national championship in 1990 when it defeated Maryland, 8-7. The Crimson won four games that season by a single goal en route to a 15-0 record, with Jenny Walser '90 scoring the game winner in three of those four games, including the national title contest. Julia French '90, Charlotte Joslin '90 and Maggie Vaughan '90 were named first team All-America following the season while Susan Carls '91 and Karen Everling '90 were named to the second team. Four-year letterwinners Everling, French and Walser graduated with a career record of 50-8-1, including a perfect 23-0 mark in the Ivy League.

The Crimson has made a total of nine NCAA Tournament appearances and has reached the national championship game three times. Harvard has also won 11 Ivy League Championships, tied with Dartmouth for the most in conference history.